Apologies if old. Accordin' to Wario64's twitter, there's some interesting data regarding preorder reserve slots for Xbox One and PS4 (not actual preorders, but the amount of consoles they're expecting to get in at launch):

Wario64 ‏@Wario64 45m

Been told that one particular GameStop location has about 25 PS4's allocated. In comaprison, Xbox One has about 8-10 at that location. fyi

Joey H ‏@patron_of_metal 44m

@Wario64 my gamestop had 12 Xbox one for preorder vs 36 ps4

This kind of falls in line with the rumoredTRUTHFACT about bad yields on the eSRAM for XB1, which could affect pricing and availability. Has anyone else encountered these kinds of reserve slots? Gonna ask my GS when I go up there tomorrow morning.

Seems like the rumor is true. Cboat was right about everything else besides pop. I can't believe the situation they are in and ironically it'd because they had a non-gaming focus while the gaming focus for Sony paid off in spades.

Wait im in Chicago when they announced the price it was like 10pm the stores where not even Open. Youre saying stores are already sold out? That makes NO sense meaning I cant wake up and stand in line to pre order?

Man oh man if Sony can really get those systems out there, for every poor gamer who sees an empty shelf as he goes to pick up Xbox One and then notices a $100 cheaper PS4 with no restrictions and more power... they really can capitalize if they're careful

Wait im in Chicago when they announced the price it was like 10pm the stores where not even Open. Youre saying stores are already sold out? That makes NO sense meaning I cant wake up and stand in line to pre order?

Well, it was only 8PM out west so I'm guessing that's where this story is from.

Wait im in Chicago when they announced the price it was like 10pm the stores where not even Open. Youre saying stores are already sold out? That makes NO sense meaning I cant wake up and stand in line to pre order?

Yeah that scares me. I'm either going to drive to the Fullerton Game Stop tomorrow morning or take the train up to the one by the Sheridan red line.

Originally Posted by family_guy

Or maybe GameStop wants more PS4s sold because they don't have to change the way they sell used games.

The way I see it, XBone effectively cuts off ebay and craigslist from second hand video game sales. In that sense, Game Stop will be the only option for most people to get money back on their game purchases or to buy used.

Microsoft will get to say they are "sold out" and make it look like the demand is super high for their box. Though I'm certain the PS4 will sell out, the 360 premium sold out at this price and that was 8 years ago when 400 bucks was was worth more than it is now.

I'm so tired of this "artificial" supply lock to toke demand on new consoles.

Good on Sony if they can actually pump out enough stock so that boxes are in people's homes and software and accessories can sell better.

There is no artificial supply lock. It's the way production works for everything. It doesn't make sense to set up production lines that will only be needed at launch. The set up for ~12M units a year in production (1M a month). If they start production in July in China, that gives them roughly 4M units globally in stores in holiday. They can pick up another 1-2M units if they expedite freight throughout the supply chain, but that gets expensive with large boxes. The only way to get more units is to start production earlier. That is really hard to do because specs have to be locked out a few months ahead of that.

Trying to setup production for a lot more than 12M a year from the start would be ridiculous. It is all about when production can get started at full capacity. Keep in mind it usually takes at least a month to ramp up. Longer if you are trying new production methods and have to worry about yields.

Yes he did. And we are talking CEO of SCE here. Guy knows what is up. They can afford to launch 2014 in Japan. People there are only playing 3DS anyway and it is not like the Xbox One will be much of a success there.